Studying Boys (8 page)

How dare he ruin everything for me? Didn't he care how important this was to me? And not just to me, to the kids at both schools. So many people were counting on this, even if they didn't know it, and he'd waltzed in there and made it a total disaster.

I couldn't even think of enough bad words to call him.

He was so not worthy of my love.

He wasn't even worthy of my hatred.

Or perhaps he was.

Yes, he definitely was.

I stared at the ceiling and imagined locking Theo in my basement and beating him with English books, math books, history papers. Everything I could think of until he finally realized that my life was important.

Argh!

I pulled my pillow over my face and screamed.

I couldn't make The Homework Club work. Not by myself. Not with anyone's help. I had to e-mail Mr. Walker and tell him I sucked and couldn't do it. Might as well do it now. Get it over with.

I kicked off my covers and got up, tripping over a football that Theo had once autographed for me as a joke. What was I doing with that stupid thing? I picked it up, walked over to my window and threw it outside. It landed with a thunk in the bushes.

With any luck, a rabid dog would destroy it before the morning came and I had to see it again.

I booted up my computer and started an e-mail to Mr. Walker.

I got as far as typing his name and then stopped. How could I write that I was a failure? That wasn't me. I didn't fail at things. Was I giving up so soon?

The cursor sat there blinking at me, waiting for me to put in writing that I was going to let down two student bodies.

But I couldn't do it. I couldn't type those words.

Instead I wrote a hate e-mail to Theo and sent it to myself.

And then I went to bed, none of my problems solved.

I stayed home sick from school the next day. It was either that or face Allie in homeroom. I couldn't bear to listen to her go on about some cute boy she'd met, or how much fun everyone had had after I left.

No one understood how important this whole thing was to me. Maybe George, but he was more interested in studying than worrying about my newspaper article.

I couldn't face my failure, so I spent the day on the couch. The house was quiet. All my little sisters and brothers were off at school and day care. I had the whole place to myself. No one to bug me or intrude upon my misery.

And when I took one of the pictures of Theo from my nightstand and burned it in the candle that was on the kitchen table, no one was around to tell me to stop.

Sort of made me wonder exactly how evil and bad I would become if there was never anyone around to tell me to shape up. What would I be like if I didn't have all these responsibilities? Maybe I'd turn into some biker chick who pierced her nipples and had a tattoo on the inside of her thigh.

I almost laughed, picturing myself like that. Maybe throw in a micromini, some fishnet stockings and an overdose of makeup. Can you even imagine what the world would do if I emerged from my bedroom like that one morning?

That would be cool.

Imagine the sense of freedom. I wouldn't care what anyone thought. I wouldn't worry about homework or rotten newspaper articles or anything. I'd just do whatever I wanted to do.

Then I saw my book bag in the corner, and reality reared its ugly head.

I was on scholarship. Good grades weren't optional. And I didn't want to fail at this Homework Club!

I sat up. Why did I have to fail? I was smart, wasn't I? Just because I was a freshman girl with no social influence whatsoever didn't mean I should give up, did it? I had other weapons I could use. I simply had to make a choice: make Theo happy so he might like me someday, or forget about the jerk and focus on what was important to me.

After his stupidity at The Homework Club last night, I wasn't feeling particularly altruistic toward Theo.

So forget him.

This was about me.

I had weapons, and I wasn't afraid to use them.

* * *

I was going to make his parents do the dirty work. I really was. That was my plan the whole way over to the Waller house: tell his mom and dad how he'd screwed everything up and let them deal with making him shape up.

But when I walked into the house, the first thing I saw was Theo stretched out on the couch, watching television. He looked so cool and arrogant—not a care in the world.

Of course he wasn't stressed out. It wasn't his life he was screwing up.

He glanced up and saw me standing in the doorway. He lifted his brows, probably at the sight of the smoke coming out of my ears and the flames bursting from my nose. "Hey, Frances."

Hey, Frances? No apology? Not even an acknowledgement of how he'd messed everything up for me? Nothing?

Suddenly, I didn't care about him anymore. Not as a guy. Not as some cute boy who I'd had a crush on ever since I could remember. He was just a total scumbag! "Theo!"

His gaze flicked from the television back to me. "Yeah?"

"What's your problem?"

He looked a little surprised by my hostile tone. Probably because every time I ever spoke to him I'd been worshipping him and wiping drool off my chin. Until now. "What's up, Frances?"

"You." I marched into the room, grabbed a pillow and flung it at his chest. Nice chest. Too bad it belonged to a jerk.

He caught the pillow and stared at me. "What was that for?"

"You ruined The Homework Club!"

"Oh, that." He tossed the pillow on the floor and relaxed. "I made it better."

"No, you didn't!" I grabbed the pillow again and smacked him in the head. Hard.

"Hey!" He grabbed my wrist and yanked the pillow away. "Cut it out."

"No!" I filched another pillow from the end of the couch, and whacked him right in the face, dodging out of his way when he jumped to his feet. "Don't you realize I'm on scholarship? I have to get good grades. I don't have sports to coast through school on. I have to earn my way, and I needed your help and you let me down!" I hit him again and then leaped out of his reach, cracking my knee on the coffee table.

Pain rushed up my leg and I hobbled away. Dumb Theo. It was all his fault.

"You okay?"

I glared at Theo. "Shut up! Don't pretend to be nice! You're a jerk and you ruined everything for me." No way was I falling for some show of thoughtfulness here. He'd failed when it counted.

"Frances, I wasn't trying to screw it up. You wanted people and I got them there. No one would have come if it was to do homework." He sounded annoyed and maybe even a little confused.

Not that I was going to feel bad for him. "Believe it or not, Theo, there are actually some kids who do their homework, who might think that doing it in a coed environment is actually more fun than doing it alone. Homework, that is. Don't give me that dumb look."

"What look?"

"That look that says you've got some crude thought in your head. You can forget it. I'm not interested in you or your stupid ways. Forget about coming to The Homework Club. Keep your horrible friends. I'm going to make this work without you!" I threw the pillow at him as hard as I could, and he caught it easily.

Beast.

"Frances—"

I turned and walked out.

And got as far as the stairs before my legs started shaking so much I couldn't stand any more. I'd yelled at Theo. Really and truly yelled at him. I never stood up against anyone, ever. I always tried to be the good girl. What in heaven's name had gotten into me?

I felt embarrassed about screaming at him, but at the same time, I had to admit, it felt a little bit thrilling to stand up for myself. Yes, it really did. But that good feeling was somewhat offset by the grim truth that I'd probably just sealed the Homework Club's fate as a bust by alienating the one key person I needed.

Oy.

* * *

I was sitting, utterly depressed, on the bottom step when Allie and Blue came downstairs for dinner a few minutes later. "Frances! What are you doing here?"

What had I done? Screamed at Theo? I never screamed. Ever. Especially not at guys I had a crush on. Plus I still needed him! I looked at my friends and I had no idea what to say.

"Upstairs." Blue grabbed one arm and Allie latched on to the other and they hauled me up to the second floor and down the hall to Blue's room.

They shut the door, propped me up on the bed and sat down. "What's going on?"

I told them what had happened. Every detail. When I finished, they were both staring at me like I was some freak who had feet growing out of my forehead. "What?"

"I've never seen you like this," Allie said.

"Like what?"

"Yelling."

"And throwing things," Blue said.

I shrugged and flopped back on the bed. They were right. What was happening to me? First, I lied to my parents. And now I'd turned into a psycho? This was not good. Before I knew it, I'd be quitting school to embark on a criminal career. What was I turning into?

"So, what are you going to do?" Allie asked.

Excellent question. "Quit?" But I didn't want to give up. I couldn't give up. Two schools were relying on me! "Kill Theo?" That sounded like more fun. Except that would make me a murderer, and I'd already decided I didn't want to turn to a life of crime. "Go back to my old life?" Homework on Friday nights? The good little girl?

Somehow that didn't sound so appealing anymore.

"You need to get Theo back on your side," Allie said.

"Yeah, right," I groaned. "That'll be so easy."

"I agree with Allie," Blue said. "You need him."

"Like I need an ice pick in my foot." I decided I hated Theo. He deserved to be hated, so I'd hate him.

"No, seriously, if you want this Homework Club to work, you need his help," Allie said. "You need him to get people there, and you need him to control them."

"Yeah, that'll happen. He's so interested in controlling his friends."

Allie clasped her hands behind her back and puffed out her chest. "You have weapons, girl. Use them."

I eyed my friend. "What? Put on some tight clothes and wave my breasts in his face?"

"Exactly." Although a little zing went through me at the thought of doing something like that, I shook my head. "He has girls all over him all the time. He'd be immune."

Allie looked annoyed. "No guy is immune to a girl's body."

My heart jumped. Was there really a chance Theo wouldn't be immune to me as a girl?

"I think Frances is right," Blue interrupted. "Theo wouldn't notice Frances's breasts even if she went downstairs naked."

Great. The one time in my life I would want to be wrong.

"You need to use other weapons," Blue said.

"What weapons?"

"Your brain."

I eyed Blue. "What do you mean?"

"Just think about it for a sec."

I was smart, smarter than most other people. So, I thought.

And then I knew. Oh, I knew exactly how to get Theo to do what I wanted. But before I could tell my friends about my brilliant idea, a knock sounded at the door. Blue's mom telling us it was time for dinner?

"Frances? Are you in there?"

OMG. It was Theo!

I jumped to my feet, my heart racing, while my friends merely looked annoyed at the interruption. "I'm in here," I said.

"Can I come in?"

Allie glanced at Blue. "You have him really well trained. My sister always barges in on me."

Can't say I'd mind if Theo barged in on me. Except that I hated him. Right. Forgot about that for a minute. "Come in," I said.

I stood up and clenched my fists by my sides. I could do this. I could use my weapons.

The door opened and Theo walked in. Did he look cute, or what? Black jeans, black T-shirt, hair that curled down his neck. He looked rough, and so hot. If I didn't know him so well, I might even be intimidated by him. He gave off the aura of being a bad boy, but inside, he was Theo. A jerk, remember? "What do you want?" Excellent. I sounded hostile.

He looked at me. "You can't make me stay away."

"From what?"

"The Homework Club. If I want to come, I'll come." His eyes flashed in challenge, and I felt a shiver of excitement rush through me. He'd never looked at me like that, like I was real.

I lifted my chin. "You going to party again?"

"I'll do what I want."

"No, you'll do what I want." OMG. Did I just say that? But this was my life at stake and I was going to protect it!

He lifted a brow. "Oh, I will?"

"Yes. You'll come and you'll bring your friends and you'll make them all study exactly the way I tell you to."

He grinned. "Maybe I won't come."

I narrowed my eyes. He only seemed interested in doing the opposite of what I wanted. A control thing? A male thing? Not that it mattered. I was going to win this one. I had figured out my strategy with him, and I wasn't going to hold back. "No, Theo. You will come. You will help me. You'll do what I say. You'll do whatever I need."